“To develop a complete mind: Study the art of science; study the science of art. Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else” – Leonardo Da Vinci -
The Vitruvian Man (Italian: L'uomo vitruviano [ˈlwɔːmo vitruˈvjaːno]; originally known as Le proporzioni del corpo umano secondo Vitruvio, lit. 'The proportions of the human body according to Vitruvius') is a drawing made by the Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci in about 1490. It is accompanied by notes based on the work of the Roman architect Vitruvius. The drawing, which is in ink on paper, depicts a man in two superimposed positions with his arms and legs apart and inscribed in a circle and square. It is kept in the Gabinetto dei disegni e delle stampe of the Gallerie dell'Accademia, in Venice, Italy, under reference 228. Like most works on paper, it is displayed to the public only occasionally, so it is not part of the normal exhibition of the museum. The work was recently on display at the Louvre's exhibit of Da Vinci's work, from 24 October 2019 to 24 February 2020 as part of an agreement between France and Italy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitruvian_Man
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English Translation of DALLA TERRA AL CIELO From Earth to Heaven (Inspired by Leonardo's Vitruvian Man). A dissertation presented by W. Bro. Giuseppe Leggiero, W. Master of the R∴L∴ ADRIANO LEMMI No. 400 OR. MILANO (Translated by Bro. Vincent Lombardo). Article: http://www.freemasonryresearchforumqsa.com/from-earth-to-heavens.php
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"... you were not born to live as brutes but to pursue virtue and knowledge. ..." (Dante Alighieri - Inferno, XXVI.)
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"The Universe cannot be interpreted until we have learned its language and become familiar with the characters in which it is written; the Universe is written in a mathematical language, and the letters are triangles, circles and other geometric figures, without which it is humanly impossible to understand even a single word." (Galileo Galilei) -
Galileo Galilei's sentence was the opening words of one of my papers, wrought about 2 years ago at the request of W. Master of the Worshipful Lodge G. Washington in Como, [Italy] in whose ranks I had temporarily moved. Our W. M. intended to propose the paper tonight, titled "The Science of Numbers and Letters" but, after rereading it, I preferred to focus this paper only on a particular symbolic construction taken from the previous one.
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The Smaragdine Tablet, attributed to Ermete Trismegisto, reads: "It is true without lying, certain and most true. That which is below is like that which is above and that which is above is like that which is below to do the miracles of one only thing." -
In accordance with the path outlined in the Smaragdine Tablet, I will try to translate from the general to the particular, from the Macrocosm to the Microcosm, from the Universe to Man, the teachings mentioned: how can the initiate reach the goal? By studying and knowing the universe and therefore himself? The simplest and most immediate answer, for us Freemasons, is inherent in the Solemn Promise (in the Oath), which we make as soon as W.M. commands that the Light be restored to Candidate. That is: for him to "ceaselessly walk the traditional Initiatory Path," using the tools that will gradually lead us to smooth the Rough Ashlar.
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The examination of the Apprentice Mason's Ritual indicates the path, symbolically interpreting it: the Lodge becomes a Workshop transforming itself into a Temple through a three-fold phase: the first is the Bro. Master of Ceremonies calling the Brethren to assemble, immediately before the start of the Meeting — the Lodge gathers in the Hall of Lost Footsteps [anteroom].
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The second phase is the squaring of [walking around] the black and white mosaic quadrangle [pavement] containing the Lights (Wisdom, Strength and Beauty) by the Dignitaries and Officers in procession: the Workshop is set up; but the Consecration of the Lodge into Temple is complete only after W. Master and the two Wardens circumscribe the square previously drawn in a circle.
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On the physical-rational level, this operation, due to mathematical laws, cannot be performed. The circumference, obtained from the product of a rational number by an irrational number, can never be rationally defined by a rational number. It is, therefore, necessary to overcome this inconsistency, to transcend the physical and the spiritual plane, to enter the soul dimension, outside of time and space, where everything, as indefinite, is feasible.
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Analogously, another clear indication of what is the path that Man must follow to reach the Light can be deduced from the symbolic examination of the famous Leonardian representation of the Vitruvian Man, which shows the symbolic union between art and science: The Vitruvian man is perfect within two geometric figures, the circle and the square, both forms considered perfect. The quadrangular structure represents the squaring of the material. In other words, the regularization of what by its nature would have remained shapeless and chaotic. This figure (like the rectangle or quadrilateral, which constitutes a symbolic variant) is a symbol of definition and delimitation.
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If the Circle is perfect, the Square is just, so much so that it was adopted by the Pythagoreans as a symbol of justice. It, therefore, represents the Law, as internal normativity, external code and conceptual order. The Square is the symbol of the earth, in opposition to the sky, symbolized by the circle. The Square is an anti-dynamic figure, anchored on all four sides, it represents arrest or the isolated instant. This figure implies an idea of stagnation and solidification and stabilization. While the flowing movement is circular and round (circumference), stopping and stability are associated with angular figures, with hard lines and sudden changes.
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According to Plutarch, the Pythagoreans claimed that the Square brought together the power of Rhea, Aphrodite, Demeter, Hestia, and Hera: the Square means that Rhea, the mother of the gods, the source of duration, manifested itself through the modifications of the four elements symbolized by Aphrodite, who was the generating water, by Hestia, who was Fire, by Demeter who was the Earth and by Hera who was the Air.
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The circle represents the state of primordial substance, impalpable and transparent, uniform and undifferentiated. In fact, the Circle without corners and edges symbolizes harmony, which thanks to the absence of oppositions, such as top and bottom, etc., translates the undifferentiated into equality of principles. It is the symbol of the spirit and immateriality of the soul. The symbolism of the Circle is twofold, both magical and heavenly. This figure as heaven represents the intellectual and spiritual dimension.
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Indeed, in its opposition to the Square, this geometric figure embodies the sky in relation to the earth, to all that is material. The Circle, as heaven, is connected to the perennial cycle of life. This concept is well expressed by the circumference, a geometric figure in which it is not possible to distinguish the beginning from the end, a symbol of eternity and therefore of perfection. The circular movement, which is also that of the sky, is perfect, immutable, with neither beginning nor end, nor variation; this means that it can represent time, which, in turn, can be defined as a continuous and invariable succession of instants all identical to each other, and hence the concept of cyclicity. The circumference also determines a separating limit between the defined internal surface and the infinite external surface.
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Man comes into contact with the two figures in a completely proportional way and this represents the perfect nature of the creation of man in harmony with Earth and Universe. And along this path, we will, as chemists and pharmacists do, carefully dose the thick and thin energies to reach the Philosopher's Stone (V.I.T.R.I.O.L.). In other words, what Guénon calls The Great Triad (Heaven-Earth-Man) is nothing other than the result of the amalgamation of the three elements. But to obtain the amalgam it is necessary to overcome the obstacles placed by our own organism: Numbers (Science) stimulate and act on the brain (mensura), Letters (Arts) stimulate and act on the heart (Emotions).
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We should, therefore, in our Microcosm, measure out reasoning and passion, reach the state that epicureans and skeptics called "ataraxy" [imperturbability], to get closer to the description of the essay "De Costantia sapientis" written by Seneca "I confirm, therefore, that the wise man is not subject to any injury. Therefore, no matter how many darts are thrown at him, because he is impenetrable to all. Like the hardness of certain stones resists iron, just like steel does not allow itself to be sawed, engraved, filed, but it repels these tools back, like certain materials cannot be consumed by fire, but retain their consistency and shape even in the midst of flames, like certain rocks, prominent in the high sea, break the waves, without showing any trace of the violence that has plagued them for so many centuries, so the soul of the wise man is solid and gathers the strength necessary to be as immune of injury, as the things I have just mentioned."
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The initiatory path indicated by spiritual Alchemy helps us to move from the center of the square circumscribed by the circumference (Static balance) to the center of the Sphere which is obtained by rotating the circle in three dimensions. This transmutation, with the tools at our disposal, is obtained by using the Square to build the square, the compass to circumscribe it and, imagining to replace the figure obtained with an arm of the compasses itself, rotating it on the plane to create the sphere in the center of which resides the Harmony of dynamic Balance.
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The Secret Meaning Behind Leonardo Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man
By Luke Miller, Posted on 2017/11/3
Article: https://truththeory.com/2017/11/03/secret-meaning-behind-leonardo-da-vincis-vitruvian-man/ -
Leonardo Da Vinci is a Italian Renaissance artist most famous for pieces such as The Mona Lisa, The Last Supper and The Vitruvian Man- the later being the main focus of this article. What many do not know is that Da Vinci was not only an artist, but a writer, inventor, architect, engineer, mathematician, anatomist and many suspect he was also an alchemist (although this has been disputed). The depth of his achievement spans what most people would deem achievable in many lifetimes, but his work was also shrouded in mystery. Da Vinci for the most part wrote backwards, which is pretty easy to decipher, however there could be an esoteric reasoning for this- seeing the world upside down and back to front is often spoken about as a way to understand this reality better.
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The Vitruvian Man -
The Vitruvian Man appears to be a singular image, however, it actually has 16 different poses. When you see it in this form it starts to resemble a multidimensional form and become holographic. Vitruvius, the architect, says in his work on architecture that the measurements of the human body are distributed by Nature as follows that is that 4 fingers make 1 palm, and 4 palms make 1 foot, 6 palms make 1 cubit; 4 cubits make a man’s height. And 4 cubits make one pace and 24 palms make a man; and these measures he used in his buildings. If you open your legs so much as to decrease your height 1/14 and spread and raise your arms till your middle fingers touch the level of the top of your head you must know that the centre of the outspread limbs will be in the navel and the space between the legs will be an equilateral triangle.
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From the roots of the hair to the bottom of the chin is the tenth of a man’s height; from the bottom of the chin to the top of his head is one eighth of his height; from the top of the breast to the top of his head will be one sixth of a man. From the top of the breast to the roots of the hair will be the seventh part of the whole man. From the nipples to the top of the head will be the fourth part of a man. The greatest width of the shoulders contains in itself the fourth part of the man. From the elbow to the tip of the hand will be the fifth part of a man; and from the elbow to the angle of the armpit will be the eighth part of the man. The whole hand will be the tenth part of the man; the beginning of the genitals marks the middle of the man. The foot is the seventh part of the man. From the sole of the foot to below the knee will be the fourth part of the man. From below the knee to the beginning of the genitals will be the fourth part of the man. The distance from the bottom of the chin to the nose and from the roots of the hair to the eyebrows is, in each case the same, and like the ear, a third of the face.
